Why? The press is whipping everyone into a frenzy when no one has to declare until October. Reagan declared his run Nov 13, 1979. And yet everyone is being led by the MSM meme. Again.
Reagan did not formally announce until then, but he was campaigning and organizing long before that:
"Although he did not formally declare his candidacy until November 1979, Reagan made it clear to his inner circle from the moment of the 1976 convention that he intended to again seek the presidency. "
Reagan had an experienced campaign staff and an established fundraising machine:
"By the time Reagan began his campaign for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, conservatives were the beneficiaries of a remarkable communications and fund-raising organization, developed originally by conservative activist Richard Viguerie from a list of twelve thousand Goldwater contributors and expanded to more than 4 million contributors and 15 million names by the mid-1970s. "
So while your post is technically true, it is also irrelevant as it pertains to Palin.